The Tenth Annual Taking Root Luncheon

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“SUPPORT TAKING ROOT” button below.

Thank you again for all you do to ensure we succeed in our mission to preserve, share, and advance the horticultural and artistic legacy of John Fairey.

Honoree
Nancy Stallworth Thomas

Nancy Stallworth Thomas’ vision, dedication, and leadership in the field of horticulture, civic improvement, and preservation have been recognized both locally and nationally.  She has worked tirelessly to make our community, state, and nation a more beautiful place.

Nancy served as President of the Garden Club of America from 1991-1993, and received many awards for her service including its highest accolade, The Achievement Medal, which she was awarded in 2005.   She was a board member and First Vice President of the American Horticulture Society, receiving its 2001 Meritorious Service Award. Other national level commitments include the Boards of the Garden Conservancy, the Center for Plant Conservation, and three terms as President of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Board.

Many local organizations have benefited from Nancy’s efforts including The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, Sheltering Arms, Houston Child Guidance Center, and the Houston Clean City Commission. She was also the founding President of the Houston Botanic Garden and continues her commitment by serving on the Executive Committee as Chairman Emerita, and Chairman of the Horticulture Planning Committee.

As a member of the Garden Conservancy Board and a founding member of the Peckerwood Gardens Conservation Foundation, Inc., Nancy was instrumental in helping John Fairey transition his private garden, then called Peckerwood, into the public garden today known as The John Fairey Garden, the first and only Garden Conservancy preservation garden in Texas. We are honored to be able to acknowledge Nancy’s outsized contribution to our Garden.

Featured Speaker
Carrie Rebora Barratt

Carrie Rebora Barratt is an energetic and collaborative executive leader who has deployed her growth and resilience mindset into organizational culture in top cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Garden, and LongHouse Reserve.

At The Met, she rose from summer intern to Deputy Director, leading  twenty-seven departments and over four hundred staff — curatorial,  conservation and scientific research, libraries, education, publications, and digital. In 2018, she took over the New York Botanical Garden as ninth CEO and President, the first woman to hold the position in its one hundred and twenty-seven year history.

She joined LongHouse Reserve in autumn 2021, invited to lead the institution through transition and turnaround following the passing of founder Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020). Since then, she has stewarded the sixteen-acre integrated environment within a mission to inspire living with art in all forms, serving the community with vast open space, programs in art, nature, and wellness, providing a sanctuary for Long Island and beyond.